The Rockets alternate jersey? Meh. Courtesy photo
This is the best time of the year for sports fans because of the NBA, March Madness, MLB right around the corner, and NFL free agency so instead of focusing on one topic, here are a few things that have me pondering:
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If you have a team falling in the second round of the playoff, why not just pick the upset in the first round? At the end of the day, this is just a numbers game and if you don’t pick at least 3 out of 4 in the Final Four AND the champion, you’re more than likely out. Won’t it be way more fun when you get to brag to your group that you picked South Dakota State over Ohio State?
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The Rockets win streak is over, but my biggest takeaway from that game was how dope the Raptors OVO City Edition jerseys looked. I know I’m nitpicking and it isn’t my money, but the Rockets Chinese City Edition jerseys are such a meh. I wish we had some dope ass unique jerseys like the rest of the NBA, but I guess paying LeBron won’t be cheap so gotta get that money!
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I finally stopped being cheap a bought a decent surround sound system for my sports viewing pleasure and I asked this question on Twitter: What’s the first song you would play on your new system? My pick is Mountains from the Interstellar soundtrack. What is yours? Add to the tweets.
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Hey everyone, just a reminder, TruTV is on DirecTV channel 246, Dish 242, Xfinity 1430, and ATT U-verse 1164. You’re welcome.
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$10 billion. Can you guess why this number is important? No, this isn’t the total amount of Bitcoin bought (or lost) in recent months. This is instead the total dollar amount people will wage, put in a pool, or bet otherwise during March Madness! Oh by the way, only 3% of that will be waged legally. *Insert debate about making sports betting legal*
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My biggest issue with Odell Beckham Jr.’s video was that he ordered a crappy hotel pizza and not something from Uber Eats or DoorDash.
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Please stop sharing that Kanye West song bracket because it doesn’t even have Lost in the World as one of his best songs. Bye.
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Shout out to all the companies that will let employees watch the NCAA games and work. I’ll never take for granted the opportunity to work in an industry that encourages us to watch basketball during work hours. This really is my favorite time of the year.
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Be sure to follow me on Twitter for my brackets: The Raheel and Del listener bracket, Baby Trixster Picks The Games bracket, and my official bracket!
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.